


Let Love Bleed Red

by Rionaa



Series: Soulmates [8]
Category: Bandom, Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soul Switching, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 06:49:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7834486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rionaa/pseuds/Rionaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time<br/>-<br/>The last time</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Love Bleed Red

Vic had first swapped with his soulmate when he was eleven. Everyone said it was too young, practically unheard of, a bad omen.

Kellin lived on the other side of the country to Vic. For the first three years since their first swap, the two boys had never met. They left messages to one another whenever they swapped, exchanged phone numbers and would talk for hours on the telephone, but they could never meet in person. Vic got on well with Kellin's friends and family, and when he returned, his mother would be gushing about what a handsome, charming boy his soulmate was.

They met for the first time during the holidays when Vic was fourteen. Kellin crossed the country to be with Vic and his family for the entire vacation. The two of them hit it off immediately, as they had known they would. They were practically inseparable from that time on, every moment that they weren't together they were planning when they would next meet.

Their first kiss was the night before Kellin's sixteenth birthday. Vic had been in love with the boy for a long time, but that was the night when he realised it. The kiss was electric. Vic swore he could feel it echoing down his spine, excitement and bliss following, and he knew that Kellin felt the same.

The first time Vic switched with Kellin to save him it was from a gang of kids from his high school. They had found out that Kellin's soulmate was a boy, and had been attacking him. Vic swapped him out just as the first punch hit. He had always been thankful that he had switched when he did. He had taught those boys a lesson for messing with his soulmate, and had worn the resulting bruises proudly.

Vic had always been the one who was able to switch them. Kellin could do it, but it was much harder for him. Some soulmate pairings were just like that. One was the more powerful soul, the other was submissive. Vic had always thought that only applied to the switching. Kellin was far from submissive. He was feisty, passionate, and never gave in.

As soon as they were able to, Vic and Kellin found an apartment together. It was small, dingy, and had a cockroach infestation, but it was home, because both of them were in it, together, and that was enough.

But one day, Vic got home early, and Kellin wasn't there. The apartment was empty, and it had been for most of the day. Vic had been at college, but Kellin hadn't had any engagements. Vic pulled out his phone and sent a text. "Where r u? xx" Then he saw the note.

"Vic, I love you, you're the love of my life, my soulmate, you mean everything to me, and I know that you feel the same. But lately, I've been sick. Not physically; my disease is not of the body but of the mind. I've been keeping it from you because I didn't want you to worry. But it has been too long, and now I must say goodbye. I love you with all my heart,

Kellin"

Vic put the letter down with shaking fingers. Was this Kellin's suicide note? Closing his eyes, he switched with Kellin. He felt the breeze on his face, saw the road speeding by beneath his feet as he sprinted; but suddenly he slammed back into the apartment. Panicking harder now, he tried again, but only managed to stay for a split second before he was returned bluntly to his original position. He tried a third time, searching desperately for any sign of where his soulmate could be, and saw in the distance for just a fraction of a second, the towering suspension bridge on the other side of the city before Kellin forced him to return. Turning on his heel, he sprinted back down to the base of the building. Waving desperately, he called a cab and panted out directions, although he was unsure if the driver could hear him over the frantic beating of his heart.

The driver dropped him off at the base of the bridge. Vic raced up it, looking around for the familiar long hair of the man he loved, who he couldn't do without. He had no guarantee that Kellin had even come here, just a hunch based on a half glimpsed distant landmark. But he had to be here. Otherwise, Vic had wasted his only chance to save his soulmate, and the other half of his soul.

Then, he saw him. Kellin was standing just this side of the crest of the bridge, on the other side of the safety railing. He wasn't looking towards Vic, but instead down towards the water flowing beneath them. As Vic watched, his shoulders hitched. He was crying.

"Kellin!" He yelled, unable to stop himself. He ran towards his soulmate, but stopped a few feet away when Kellin spun to face him. His eyes were dangerous, glaring at Vic as though they wanted nothing more than to burn him alive.

"What are you doing here Vic?"

"I came to save you, Kellin! I love you, I would do anything for you!"

"Then let me do this! Please, it's what I want."

"No! Kellin, please, there's got to be another way! This isn't the solution! Don't do this to me, please, I'm begging you!"

Kellin's face was tortured. He looked from Vic back to the river running below. "I'm sorry." And he let go of the railing.

"No!" Vic raced to the edge, gripping the railing so tight his knuckles turned white. Kellin was falling, falling, facing upwards, hand reaching out towards Vic, an expression of shock on his face as time. Slowed. Down. 

Vic closed his eyes.

Kellin watched as the body of his soulmate hit the water with a distant smash, inaudible over the sound of traffic behind him and the water rushing beneath. Perhaps it was imaginary. 

Perhaps he screamed. Perhaps he sobbed Vic's name, shouting, wailing, begging him to return, cursing the river, railing at the wind, at fate, at himself, at Vic, oh, god, Vic...

If you asked him, Kellin couldn't tell you how he got off the bridge. How Vic's broken body was retrieved from the river, his face unrecognisable from the force of the impact and the effects of the water. He couldn't tell you when his mother and Vic's mother arrived to comfort him, both women stricken with grief. Vic's brother was there, too, but Kellin couldn't have told you that. All he could tell you was gone. Gone. Vic's gone. He's gone and he's never coming back.

And it's because of Kellin.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/unexpected-readings-of-poetry)


End file.
